Mrs. Puckheaven and I spent 3 weeks in the Sabah state of Borneo in 2008 and when we flew over the country it was appauling to see how much forest was cut down for palm oil. Check the ingredients of just about anything, there it is. We are doing our best to avoid eating it, but it is one of the more ubiquitous ingredients in food. I actually spoke to the tourism minister (they actually put me through to him on the phone) and he agreed that it is a huge problem.

The problem stems from the fact that they (along with Indonesia) are producer nations that have now become dependent on the money from the multinational corporations for infrastructure projects. It is a vicious cycle and one that we as American's can do little about except in our choices in products. (as with most things)

While we loved our time in the Danum Valley (an amazing place) the poverty and forest destruction continues to make us sad and we talk about what that place will look like when our children are old enough to visit.

While I know this is Fark and snark and internet tough guys are everywhere, perhaps we can take this opportunity to educate ourselves on exactly what palm oil is, the damage it does environmentally and socially and the long term impact it has on generations of South East Asians.

Also, I will now look into how much palm oil I am eating, how unhealthy it is for my fat ass, and if I can decrease my intake or substitute it for canola oil which is made here in my country.

Canola is the way to go, or olive. That is even better.

Most palm oil isn't even consumed. There are many names for it, and it is used in a multitude of products,This site has a list of things to look for on ingredient lists (I doubt it is exhaustive), including things like "glyceryl stearate" and "sodium lauryl sulphate". Sadly it is really difficult for even an aware consumer to avoid every kind of palm oil product, which is why this problem might be best addressed with legislative measures to discourage the use of palm oil or, more broadly, to disincentivise deforestation.

I'm an enviornmentalist but I find that we very much have a have your cake and eat it too mentality when it comes to developing nations. They want progress too.

They do tend to be shortsighted when it comes to their environment but that puts the onus on us to educate the dumb shiats.

/pissing off environment haters and the environment lovers in one fell swoop//these issues are very complicated

We're just as shortsighted in the West. We want cheap labor from immigration with zero consideration for the carbon footprint increase of a person that went from riding on top of a minibus and living in a sustainable village in some developing country to owning 2 gas-guzzling used cars and trucks in an open land-consuming, heavily paved housing development with high energy demands.

So it's OK for us in the west to have the nice lifestyle but not for those in developing countries? I'm sure that is not what you meant but that's how it reads.

Also, I will now look into how much palm oil I am eating, how unhealthy it is for my fat ass, and if I can decrease my intake or substitute it for canola oil which is made here in my country.

Canola is the way to go, or olive. That is even better.

I think these nations are better of in the long run if they do not destroy their environment. In the west we have worked hard to understand this. Our impact on foreign environments due to our lifestyle is usually ignored.

Instead of harming innocent apes, couldn't we just kick all the rednecks and hicks out of Florida and use that land for palm oil production, instead? The world has more than enough rednecks, and frankly, orangutans are a bit higher on the evolutionary ladder than the vast majority of rednecks and hicks.

Cropped pictures, an unnamed company, no mention of a specific location and an opening salvo that refers to a "...money-spinning palm oil plantation" makes me think this isn't a news article, its an editorial.

You're directly related to the bacteria you kill when you use hand sanitizer. Is this any different? Every living thing is related by blood. If you value the lives of orangutans because they're closely related to you, then how can you disregard other humans, who are undeniably more closely related? Many more humans suffer than orangutans. So why give a crap about them?

Umm just a guess but could it be that there are HEAPS less than 7 billion of them :p

I'm an enviornmentalist but I find that we very much have a have your cake and eat it too mentality when it comes to developing nations. They want progress too.

They do tend to be shortsighted when it comes to their environment but that puts the onus on us to educate the dumb shiats.

/pissing off environment haters and the environment lovers in one fell swoop//these issues are very complicated

We're just as shortsighted in the West. We want cheap labor from immigration with zero consideration for the carbon footprint increase of a person that went from riding on top of a minibus and living in a sustainable village in some developing country to owning 2 gas-guzzling used cars and trucks in an open land-consuming, heavily paved housing development with high energy demands.

jake_lex:I would imagine it's sedated. I don't think that after days hiding from humans who are destroying their habitat, a orangutan is likely to think "Oh, these humans that are coming now are cool, I should totally go with them."

My point was they should have said that instead of lying. I don't care how tired a wild ape is (are tan's apes?) it isn't gonna just flop on Joe Schlub's back like that after being terrorized by bulldozers. I'm imagining arms being ripped from their sockets and faces rearranged.

Exhausted ... this orangutan is so weak it has to cling onto the back of a rescue worker

Uh... that orangutan doesn't look tired. It looks dead or at the very least heavily sedated.

:-(Oh... and the 80's called. They want their jeans back.

blipponaut:r1niceboy: While I think that PETA are just a bunch of attention whores, I'd love an eco-terrorist outfit to start a fairly localized apocalypse once this palm oil plantation is up and running.

Yah, damn those poor people and developing counties being pushed to make cheap palm oil for our 1st world food products.

I would imagine it's sedated. I don't think that after days hiding from humans who are destroying their habitat, a orangutan is likely to think "Oh, these humans that are coming now are cool, I should totally go with them."